Victoria Hagan

A few choice views of Victoria Hagan rooms in grey and white.

Country living

A couple of shots of the place we stayed for a few days upstate. The house was originally built in the 1700s, which to Americans is really really old. I obsessed over the wide plank wood floors, the old door hardware, the light through the wavy glass windows. A peaceful place and a restful week.

Upstate

A few pics from our trip upstate last weekend, most by Mr. Bromeliad. The last is me, Mummy and Daddy. Above us is a feather suspended in a spider web.

Jewelry

These are a few of the pieces I snitched from my mom's jewelry collection. I've been wearing the groovy white necklace - a 1950s Trifari piece - at least once a week. The silver earrings remind me of tea diffusers. It's rare to find a lacy silver set of earrings that are clips.

The link necklace reminds me of the Michael Kors version from last year. This one is at least a couple decades old. The big turquoise necklace is new from T.J.Maxx. The leopard print in the background is a coat my mom picked up at a garage sale for $5, never worn. (Believe me, I'm wearing it now.)

With a few more baubles, I will be well on my way to this look.

Images: Iris Apfel by Bruce Weber.

DIY wallpaper alternatives

Do a DIY Imperial Trellis using the trellis allover stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils via Isabella & Max Rooms.

Make a linen look painted wall with Isabella & Max Rooms.

If you are very clever, make your own stencil with AutoCad and color with Sharpies from HGTV's Rate my Space via Chic Modern Vintage.

Freehand a design inspired by a Fossil catalog using a gold paint pen at Scraplog via Chic Modern Vintage.

Make stripes from electrical tape at High Heeled Foot in the Door.

Don't like black? Try blue tape. Don't like stripes? Try diagonal with colored masking tape at Little Green Notebook.

Get wide silver stripes with contact paper at Apartment Therapy.

The simplest yet - the homeowners put up plain masking tape, intending to paint stripes. But they liked the masking tape so much, they left it up instead at Apartment Therapy.

Have you tried any DIY alternatives to wallpaper?

A touch of animal

The stripes and the patterned rug are a little more than I could handle. But the bit of animal print on the chair caught my eye.

From the Stash - Greg Smith

This image from Metropolitan Home directly inspired our current deck. We now have three square metal planters from CB2 filled with grasses, none of which grew tall, one of which died, and one of which grew extremely wide. So much for symmetry.

However I do see a hint of this space out there. It's nice to look back and see that your reality sometimes is not too far off from your dream.

Dahlias

The dahlias are in bloom at the Planting Fields Arboretum.

Anenomes on land. Fireworks on a stem. I think I have a new favorite flower.

Guest post at Dollar Store Crafts

I'm guest posting today at Dollar Store Crafts where I show you how to make this Shamwow dahlia.

Dollar Store Crafts is a great resource for inexpensive DIY projects, most of which feature at least one dollar store product.

Inspired in October: Animal prints

News flash - animal prints are in for fall . . . as they have been every fall for as long as there have been animals.

Happily, I am more than up on this trend, owning no less than four animal print coats or jackets and two animal print pillows (this is after thinning the herd last fall.)

Animal prints are the perfect high/low design option. Animal prints run trademark free, and they are cheap and plentiful.

My new thing is animal-prints-other-than-zebra-and-leopard for clothes, to wit this ocelot print from Coach. (Note also the pairing of animal prints with other patterns. Would you try this?)

When it comes to home design, I'm loving uncommon prints or even common ones done in unusual ways. My new fave - caramel-y kitty colors in home decor like leopard, jaguar and tiger.

I usually visualize leopard and related prints in some layered traditional setting a la Bunny Williams. But look how great they are with minimalism, modernism and my always favorite grey.

You could get your animal print in fashion and home decor at the same time by hanging your coat out to be seen as do the ladies of Rue.

How about you? Do you do animal prints in the closet? In the home?

And what's inspiring you in October? Link up your projects and inspiration below.

Images: Aureta via Full House; Coach;Veronique Mati via The Diversion Project; Elle Decor; Plush Palette.

What inspired in September

The colors of ripe summer fruit was my inspiration for September. Here's what inspired some of you or what you were inspired to do last month or what you posted that inspired me. (October's blog party will be up Friday. Please feel free to share your projects or inspiration throughout the month.)

Fashion

DIY J. Crew painted stripe shirt by Chelsea at Spicklebee

DIY J. Crew dress at Welcome to the Good Life

A DIY shoulderless shirt from A Pair and a Spare

Home Design

A studio vignette at The Studioist

A glam thrift store vanity makeover at Good Girl Gone Glad

A Montauk beach house at Aubrey Road

A serene sette at A Perfect Gray

A touch of glossy black at Down & Out Chic

A dreamy dressing room reveal at From the Right Bank

A pretty in pink living room makeover at Pretty Far West

Glammy rooms at Simplified Bee

Clutter done cool at Sanity Fair

Luxe interiors at Little Blue Deer

Some stylish nurseries that almost make me wish I had a kid at The Feminist Housewife

Green design at Glamorous Green

Fall color inspiration from cabbages and pumpkins no less at Bryn Alexandra

Free stuff

Printable vintage books cover at Kate Spade

Vintage full color butterfly and insect clip art at Martha Stewart